Strange Connections
by junodog
Summary: IT'S BACK UP FINALLY! Edward Elric visits Hogwarts because Hoho helped the Order of the Phoenix back in the good ol' days. I doubt I need to say this, but it's a crossover. Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter. Rated T because I like angst and violence.
1. Chapter 1

See? I _am_ putting it back up! Although updates will be slow because I still don't have everything in order quite yet… I've made a few changes, and I may end up changing a few other things, but right now I kinda doubt it. Also, I need to reread OotP but I don't know if the library here has it (it probably does, I mean, MSU has 12000 students or something. If it doesn't have it, then the world is coming to an end) and I am _so_ not paying for another copy of it (mine's at home and most likely in some box in a storage unit). Grawr.

Once I finally reread it, though, things should be good. And now I need to write something down so I don't forget a major change I want to make… -flies off-

---------------

It was a quiet morning in Resembool. The sun had just risen, the grass was wet with dew, and all were still inside their homes, except for two men. They were walking down a path towards a certain house, with a tree on one side and a garden on the other.

"It's good to see you again. You have children now, correct?"

"Yes, Trisha just gave birth to our second son."

"What are their names?"

"The older one is Edward, and the younger is Alphonse."

"Do you think they'll inherit your talent in alchemy?"

"It's hard to say. They're still very young."

"Well, I look forward to meeting them."

-----------------

Several years passed, and another quiet morning arrived. One of the two men walked down the same path alone, heading to that same house. He was paying a surprise visit to Edward and Alphonse.

He stopped for a moment before knocking on the door. He'd kept in touch with the family for a while, but then the letters had gradually stopped coming. Last he'd heard, the two boys had left their home to train and improve their abilities in alchemy. Hohenheim had disappeared, and Trisha had passed away.

A minute after he knocked, Edward opened the door. He looked up sleepily at Dumbledore. Once he realized who it was, Edward's eyes widened, and he shut the door. "Hang on a minute!" he shouted. After a few minutes, the door opened, and this time both of the brothers were there.

"May I come in?" he asked, smiling at the two.

"Yeah, we just had to clean up," replied Ed, opening the door and stepping out of the way. They went into the kitchen and sat down. Dumbledore looked around at the place. It was still very messy, but he didn't expect two young boys to be very clean. At the very least, they were trying their best.

"Um, so… what brings you over here?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just wanted to see how you were doing. You finished your training, I presume?"

"Yeah, we did."

"What are you going to do now?"

The two blinked in unison. "Huh?"

"Do you have any plans for the future?"

"Why do you want to know?" Ed asked politely.

Dumbledore smiled. "Did you know that I'm the headmaster of a school?"

"No…"

"Well, the two of you qualify to go there, if you wish. Of course, Alphonse is still too young, but I'm willing to make an exception in this case."

"What type of school is it?"

"One that specializes in what you've been learning for the past few years, only in a different way."

"You mean like alchemy and stuff?"

"Yes."

Edward and Alphonse exchanged glances. "Well, there's something we need to do first, and we're going to need a while to do it."

"What do you need to do?"

"It's a secret," the two of them said together.

Dumbledore stood up. "Well, then, I won't ask again. I'll give you a chance to come next year, all right?"

"Okay."

---------------

A year passed. Ed and Al were in their house, getting ready to send Ed off to East City, when an owl flew in through an open window. Ed started as it landed right in front of him on the table. It had an envelope tied to its leg.

Ed pulled off the envelope. "Jeez, why does he always send letters by owl? Hasn't he ever heard of the postal service?"

"Maybe he doesn't trust the postal service," Al replied, looking over his brother's shoulder at the letter. "What does it say?"

Ed read the letter fairly quickly. "He's wondering if we want to go to his school."

"Do you think we should?"

"Nah, if we went there, people would ask about your body, and we'd probably get in trouble for what we did, too. I'm gonna write back real quick."

"Okay. I'll keep packing, then."

Ed spent a while looking for a blank piece of paper. The only one he found had a transmutation circle on the back. He tried to erase it, but then he realized it had been drawn with ink, so he just scribbled over it and began to write.

_Dear Mr. Dumbledore,_

_Sorry for my bad handwriting, but I can't write with my right hand anymore. I made a bad decision, and we're both suffering because of it, so I'm going to East City now to join the military as a State Alchemist. That way I can find a way to make it up to Al. So, I guess our answer is no. Thank you for the offer, though._

_We probably won't be living in Resembool after I get into the military, so I guess it'll be harder to keep in touch from now on._

_Sincerely,_

_Edward Elric_

-------------

A few years passed. Edward was staying at a hotel in Rush Valley, getting a new arm for the cold temperatures in the north, when he got another letter. He looked at it briefly before giving it to his brother.

_I hope the two of you are doing well. If you have the chance, would you like to visit Hogwarts? Some of the students here are interested in alchemy. You could also see how we do things here._

"What do you think? Should we go?" Ed asked once Al had finished reading.

"Well, I don't see why not. I mean, it's not like we're going to be able to do anything for a while here, especially since we need to wait for Winry to make a new arm for you."

"Yeah, with all the work she's been doing lately, it'll be easier for her if we don't make her rush, huh?"

"Yeah. Besides, I'd like to see how they use alchemy there."

Ed stood up. "I'll go tell Winry that she doesn't have to hurry. Do you want to send a letter back?"

"Okay."

---------------

They got a response the very next day. Al read it out loud to Ed as he got dressed.

"He says he'll meet us at the train station tomorrow. It doesn't say when, though."

"Does that mean we'll have to wait there all day?" Ed asked.

"Well, it says sometime in the afternoon, so I guess we'll just have to head over at noon and wait."

"Oh. Maybe he doesn't know what time the train will get in."

"Yeah, maybe. So, what should we do today?"

"I dunno. Maybe we could see if there's a library in town."

They walked down the streets of Rush Valley, keeping an eye out for a library. It took them half the day to realize that there was only one. As they browsed through it, Ed realized it was a pointless effort. The section on alchemy was small, and Xingese alchemy might as well be nonexistent. Ed only found one paragraph on the subject, and everything it said was a regurgitation of what he already knew.

When they left, the sun was setting. Ed walked just in front of their brother. It took him a while to realize he had gotten them lost.

"Oh, great. What now?"

"Well, isn't that the train station way over there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is."

"We can go from there to Winry's place, and then back to the hotel."

As they approached the station, Ed saw a black dog sitting in the middle of a street. He looked at it curiously. It seemed to be watching him.

"Brother, come on!" Al said as he grabbed his brother by the antenna and pulled him along.

"Ow! Al, what are you doing?"

"There's someone from the military up there, and they're trying to get your attention."

"Huh?"

Al let go and pointed in front of them. Indeed, there were several soldiers walking toward them. When they stopped, one of them stood in front of the others and saluted. "Sir! I'm glad you're here. We need your help with something."

---------------

Ed followed the soldiers to a small military building. They had him sit in an office and left him alone for a few minutes. Finally, someone came into the room. He sat down on the other side of the desk.

"So, what is it you need me for?"

"We've received news from Central that a serial killer escaped from prison and is currently in Rush Valley. He's an alchemist, and a very dangerous one at that. He had killed at least ten people when we found out about him, and at least twenty more by the time we captured him and brought him to jail."

"So you want me to find him?"

"If you could. He tends to target people your age, so be careful."

"How much danger is there to the people in this town?"

"Not much yet, but if he isn't found soon, there will be a great risk."

Ed sighed. "Right. I was going to leave town tomorrow, but I guess I'll just have to change plans."

"I appreciate the help."

"Yeah, well, I have a friend here who's about my age, and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Winry Rockbell, right? We'll have someone watching her until you find this man, so she'll be safe."

Ed nodded and stood up. "So, what does this person look like?"

The man handed Ed a folder. "Here's everything we know about him."

"All right. I'll start on this right away."

--------------

Ed walked out of the building to find his brother waiting for him. "What do they want?" Al asked.

"Apparently there's a serial killer around here, and they want me to track him down."

"Can you do that?"

"Well, according to this information, I'm a perfect victim for him, so finding him shouldn't be too hard. It's the idea of fighting and disarming him that's making me worried. He's almost good enough to be a State Alchemist."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll go over this tonight and see where he's most likely to be hiding. I'll start looking for him tomorrow."

"But what about going to Hogwarts tomorrow?"

"This is a little more important than a vacation, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. How are we going to tell him, though?"

"I'll leave that up to you. Right now I need to concentrate on this."


	2. Chapter 2

Well, since I was getting nowhere with just editing the first draft of the story, I decided just to rewrite the whole damn thin

Well, since I was getting nowhere with just editing the first draft of the story, I decided just to rewrite the whole damn thing, which, surprisingly, didn't take that long. And so, here you go, the new and improved Strange Connections.

The next morning dawned dark and cloudy, but Ed didn't mind. He wasn't much for being bright and cheery himself. He spent several minutes getting dressed, not wanting to go after this killer, but realizing that he didn't have a choice. After all, he'd agreed to it in the first place…

He ate breakfast silently before leaving the hotel, returning Al's farewell with no emotion in his voice. He'd see Al later today. He just wanted to get this over with right now, and he hoped that maybe he'd get done early enough to avoid having to delay this trip. Of course, he doubted that would happen, but he could hope, right?

He walked by Winry's shop as he headed for the more rundown part of town. That black dog from yesterday was there as well, lying in the alley and watching Ed curiously as he passed by, but Ed ignored it. Or at least, he tried to. The worst case scenario was that the dog was Envy, but Ed had some feeling that told him it wasn't. Either way, he shook his head and continued on his way.

He heard the footsteps behind him a while later, and he continued to purposefully trap himself in the maze of alleys in this part of town. Finally, he turned, not at all surprised to find himself being attacked.

He jumped lightly out of the man's way and kicked out, but to his dismay, the movement, in a once in a lifetime fluke, caught him off balance and he fell back. He managed to get to his feet, but the man was too quick, and Ed soon found himself on the ground again. Ed swore and tried to bring his hands together, but the man practically fell on top of him and wrenched his hands apart. He then pushed Ed's left arm down with his knee, and after he pinned down Ed's right hand, he used his remaining hand to grab Ed by the throat. Ed struggled, but the man was surprisingly strong.

By this point in time, if Ed had had even the tiniest bit of doubt in his mine, it was long gone. This was the killer.

"Heh, you're a state alchemist?" the man asked. "The military must be getting pretty desperate these days."

Ed scowled, and continued to struggle, but this really was a bit too much for him to do without air. He was beginning to feel the effects, but he couldn't give up, not now…

"But since you're an alchemist, I'll be nice, just this once," the man continued. "I won't bruise your pride by killing you with alchemy. This is working just fine."

Ed was beginning to lose consciousness now, and he stopped struggling to break free, concentrating instead on struggling to stay awake. He couldn't die, he couldn't…

He heard barking from somewhere nearby, and before his eyes closed, he saw a blur of black, a split second before the man was knocked off of him. Ed rolled to his side and heaved several deep breaths. He knew he was still in danger, but right now all his body wanted was air, and he didn't have much of a choice but to try and fulfill that need. Once he had recovered enough, he sat up, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Are you all right?" asked an unfamiliar voice beside him. It had an accent, but Ed couldn't tell much from it other than that, so he looked up. Crouching next to him was a man who, despite the fact that he couldn't have been more than a few years older than the colonel, looked as if he'd been living on the streets for years. But it wasn't that that bothered him. It was the fact that the man was acting as if he knew Ed from somewhere.

"Yeah…" Ed muttered as he pushed himself to his feet, leaning against a wall for support. His legs, or at least his flesh leg, felt uncharacteristically weak, though that was probably from what had just happened… "What happened to that dog, though?"

"Oh, you'll see him again soon," the man said with a wink.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Have you been following me?"

"Yes, and it's a good thing I have, otherwise you would have been killed," the man said, sounding more cheerful than the situation called for.

"Fine," Ed muttered. "But who are you?"

The man smiled. "I was wondering when you'd ask," he said, holding out his hand. "My name is Sirius Black. Dumbledore sent me."

Ed frowned. It seemed like a believable story, but the suspicious side of him was still very strong. "Is that so?"

"I'll even prove it to you later," Sirius said. "But I think we should be getting away from here. I was told not to use magic except in emergencies, and that man could be back at any time."

"Magic?" Ed asked incredulously, but the only answer he got was a gentle shove toward the end of the alley.

"Let's get going, shall we?" Sirius said, but when Ed looked back to protest, all he saw was that black dog. He looked around to see where Sirius had gone, but there was no sign of the man.

"What the…"

"Brother!" Ed looked back towards the street. He saw Al running toward him, with someone else just behind him.

"Hey, Al," Ed replied, trying to keep calm. "What's up?"

"What happened to you? You look a little–"

"I'll tell you later," Ed replied, looking at the man behind his brother. It was Dumbledore.

"Hello, Edward," he said with a smile. "I suppose your trip to Hogwarts will be delayed for a while, then?"

Ed blinked. "Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"Would you still like to come when you're finished with this business?"

Ed exchanged glances with his brother, and they both nodded. Dumbledore smiled.

"You can come back with Sirius, then. I will see you there."

Ed watched as the old man walked away. Then he turned to Al. "Come on, let's get back to the hotel."

"Yeah, sure," Al replied. They were walking for a while when Al stopped, turned to Ed and asked, "Brother, why is there a dog following you?"

Ed looked back at the dog. "Um, I think that's Sirius. Right?"

The dog sat down and made as if to confirm that statement.

Al looked as if he wanted to say something about that, but he stopped and shook his head. "But they don't allow dogs in the hotel, do they?"

Ed looked down at the dog, who cocked his head before running off. Ed stared after it as it ran into a nearby alley, and he was about to go after it when Sirius walked out, looking fairly pleased with himself.

"Uh…" Al began, but Ed just shook his head. He should have realized that something like this would happen if Dumbledore was involved…

"Forget it, Al, let's just go inside. I'm sure we can talk about it then."

And with that, Ed walked into the hotel, determined to figure out what the hell was going on.

"He attacked you?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

Al rested his head in his hands. "I should have gone with you."

Ed shook his head. "Don't feel bad about it, Al. I didn't prepare enough. We'll just try again tomorrow."

"And I can help," Sirius added.

Ed raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "You sound pretty excited."

"I haven't been outside in months," Sirius replied. "Besides, you were almost killed once today. I don't want you to be hurt again."

"Okay, who are you?" Ed asked. "You're acting like you know us."

"I do," Sirius replied. "In fact, we've met before, but you were too young to remember."

"Is that so?" Ed asked, still feeling a little suspicious. "Prove it."

"All right," Sirius replied. "Edward, you hate milk, your hair was cut very short as a child, and you had a lot of fun playing with little boy named Harry Potter," Sirius finished, holding out a picture to Ed. "Don't mind the fact that it's moving, that's common in the wizarding world."

Ed ignored the last part of that sentence as he looked down at the picture. Sure enough, the picture was moving. He watched as a much younger version of him, probably from when he was a year old or so, waddled around a living room with a black-haired boy, who appeared to be a few months younger than him. There were three adults in the background, one of which Ed recognized as his mother. She was holding Al in her arms, and she had that familiar smile on her face. The other two were most likely Harry's parents. Ed didn't particularly care about that at the moment, though. He was more focused on his own family, as well as the boy he was playing with in the picture.

"None of the adults in this picture are alive today," Sirius said sadly as Ed handed the picture to his brother. "It's too bad. You and Harry could have been good friends."

"What happened to them?" Ed asked.

"They were killed, but I'll save that story for later," Sirius answered. "There's a lot you need to know first. But you'll meet Harry when you go to Hogwarts. He's been living with his aunt and uncle."

Ed nodded. "Yeah, okay…"

"But Mom looks pretty happy in this picture," Al remarked. "I wonder why Dad isn't in it."

"He probably had better things to do," Ed replied tersely before turning to Sirius. "Anyway, what's the deal with all this 'magic' stuff? You'd better not be talking about alchemy."

Sirius laughed. "No, your alchemy doesn't exist back in our world, just like our magic doesn't exist in your world. In fact, if the passage between these worlds hadn't been found by one of the previous headmasters of Hogwarts, you'd never hear about magic around here again."

Ed frowned. "So you're saying there's some kind of portal that leads from here to some world full of magic and wizards and all that?"

"That's the basic idea, yeah," Sirius replied casually. "But don't get the wrong idea about our world. We've got muggles just like here."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic folk," Sirius explained. "Most of them don't even know we exist."

Ed sighed and muttered, "Great, this is just what I need," under his breath.

"What was that, brother?"

"Nothing." Ed stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Winry for a while. See you."

They left the hotel early the next morning. Al had gone ahead to wait for them, and Ed was currently walking to the same place as yesterday, Sirius trailing behind him in dog form. They wandered through the alleys for a while, Ed keeping an eye out for any signs of the man they were after.

It was getting close to lunchtime when Ed realized the guy probably wasn't going to show up around here. He sighed and slumped down against a wall, and Sirius sat down beside him, looking at him curiously.

"So much for him pursuing a victim until the end," Ed muttered. "Is he afraid of you or something?"

He looked up and stared at the sky; it was fairly dark, but he didn't think much about it. Less light meant a better chance of his target coming out. He continued to stare for a while longer before he heard an unusual sound from somewhere beside him, much like a dog's version of laughter. Ed scowled and tossed a stray chunk of metal in Sirius's general direction. There was a clang, and Ed looked over to see Sirius hiding behind some trash cans.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked. Sirius looked at him and jerked his head toward the other end of the alley. Ed looked up and saw the outline of a person running past. It was just a flash, but Ed had the feeling he knew who it was.

"He's here, then," he muttered. "Should we wait up for him? We wouldn't want to miss him," he remarked as he brought his hands together. He stayed where he was, in case he was being watched, and kept as still as possible, concentrating on the best options he had with the materials around him. He wanted to immobilize him, which meant either preventing all movement or knocking him out, and as long as he wasn't caught off guard again-

Of course, his life never did work out the way he wanted it to.

He woke up in his hotel room, his head hurting so much that Ed thought it would explode. He stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to figure out what had happened, when Al appeared in his field of vision.

"Oh, you woke up. How's your head?"

Ed grunted in reply before asking, "What happened?"

"You were knocked out, I heard Sirius howling, and we managed to take him out together. But brother, are you okay? I mean, you've been out for almost a day–"

Ed tried to sit up at this. "Are you kidding me?"

"Brother, lie down," Al gently commanded. "They had a doctor check you out after that guy was arrested, and they said you'd be out for a while, but that you'd probably be fine. Even so, you need to take it easy for a while, got it?"

Ed frowned. "Where's Sirius?"

Even though Al's face could show no emotion, Ed could tell his brother was smiling. "He's staying at Winry's. She was glad to take in 'Rush Valley's new canine hero.'"

Ed frowned. "Why'd they let Winry take him in?"

"Because he refused to leave your side," Al replied. "I talked to him later on, and he said he didn't want to chance getting taken to the pound or anything like that."

Ed groaned. "Great, just what we need. More complications."

"Brother, are you sure you still want to go to Hogwarts after all this?"

"Well, Winry's still not done with my arm and leg, so we need some way to pass the time," Ed replied. "Besides, we've put it off for about four years, Al, and maybe…"

Ed was silent for a moment before Al poked him in the arm. "What is it, brother?"

"I was just thinking, maybe we can learn a few things while we're there. I mean, it's not like I'm expecting to get any help, but maybe we can get some advice. And even if we don't," Ed continued. "I get the feeling that we'll meet some people who knew Mom, and…"

"You want to hear about her?" Al asked. "Why are you so sentimental all of a sudden?"

"You got a problem with that?" Ed snapped. "It's just that all we know about her is from our perspective. Granny didn't tell us much we couldn't have figured out on our own."

"I don't have a problem with it at all, brother," Al replied calmly. "I just didn't expect to hear you say it out loud."

"Oh. So what's the plan now?" Ed asked, trying to change the subject.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning," Al replied. "But brother, since it took a while to get everything figured out, we probably won't be going to the school for a while."

"Why not?"

"They have some kind of break," Al replied. "And it probably wouldn't be too good to go right before everyone's about to leave."

Ed frowned. "So wouldn't it just be better to wait to go until after that break?"

"Well, Sirius said that it'd be better if you got used to the idea of magic beforehand," Al explained. "Plus, he seems pretty lonely, and a couple extra weeks couldn't hurt much, could it?"

Ed sighed. "Al, we can't afford to waste that much time, even if it is just a couple of weeks. We need to get back up to Briggs as soon as we can."

"Oh, speaking of which, we got a message from the colonel yesterday," Al said. "He got in touch with the major general, and she's going to continue the search for Mei Chan under the guise that they're searching for Scar. But brother, I really think it'll be worth learning a little about magic. I mean, Sirius said that he learned that dog trick on his own–"

"When did he say that?" Ed asked.

"The night before last, when you were asleep," Al answered. "Anyway, if it's possible to turn yourself into an animal without being like Envy, then maybe we can…"

Ed shook his head. "No, I don't think we're capable of using magic. I mean, the best we can hope for is some kind of advice from Dumbledore, but to be honest, I don't want to drag anyone else into this mess."

"In that case, can't we just go because we were invited? I mean, Dumbledore always put an effort into keeping in touch–"

"Probably because of that bastard Hohenheim," Ed snapped.

"Brother, you're being an idiot. Do you really think that's the only reason he's kept in touch for so long?"

Ed sighed. "No, I guess not. Look, maybe we should just drop it for now. We'll talk about it tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Al replied. "Oh, and you might want to visit Winry before we leave."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ed muttered. "I'll go over in the morning. We'll have to pick up Sirius anyway, right?"

Al nodded. "Yeah. Well, I'll go pick up something to eat. See you later."

They went over to Winry's place early the next morning. She was sitting out front with Sirius at her feet, and she waved and walked up to greet the two, Sirius following without hesitation.

"Hey, Ed, can you come with me for a minute?" she asked, gesturing to a door in the back.

"Sure," Ed replied, and he followed her inside, Sirius trailing behind.

"Sit down over there," Winry said, gesturing to a chair by the table before grabbing something off a shelf. Ed didn't have the best view, but he could see that it was made of metal. He got a clearer view when she walked up to him.

"You finished it already?" he asked in surprise.

"Just the arm for now," Winry replied. "I figured you could get used to it on your trip, and tell me how it is when you get back. That way I can fix any problems you have before you go back up north, since you'll probably find some way to break it up there."

Ed scowled, ignoring the amused look in Sirius's eyes. "I'm not gonna break it."

"I know you, Ed. You'll find some way." Winry cleared off a spot on the table and laid the arm down on it. "But since you're leaving today, you don't have to pay me until I switch to your new leg. Aren't I nice?"

Ed rolled his eyes as she disconnected his arm. "Sure, Winry."

Once Winry had attached his new arm, Ed spent a moment recovering from the familiar jolt of pain in his shoulder, watching silently as Winry put his old arm somewhere nearby. "I might use it to test a few things later," she explained before sitting down across from him. "How's it feel?"

Ed tested it out for a moment before looking curiously at Winry. "It's light."

"I reinforced the most important parts, so it should be fine. So, are you taking the town hero with you?"

Ed glanced over at Sirius before nodding. "Yeah. We're stopping by his home on the way, so we might as well drop him off."

"So he isn't a stray?"

"To the military, he is," Ed replied. "Speaking of which, you don't know where we're going next, right?"

Winry shook her head. "You haven't told me."

"Okay, good," Ed muttered, mostly to himself, but Winry heard.

"Why's that a good thing?" she asked.

"If you don't know, then there's nothing the military can do about it," Ed replied simply.

Before Winry could reply, Sirius let out a disgruntled whine. The two looked down at him before Ed grabbed his coat and headed outside.

"He's a pretty interesting dog," Winry remarked. "It's almost like he can understand what you're saying."

"He didn't sleep in your room, did he?" Ed asked.

Winry laughed. "Oh come on, Ed, he's just a dog. But if it makes you feel better, he didn't."

"Good," Ed muttered. "Well, we need to check out of the hotel now, so I guess I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay. See you then."

They got out of the hotel fairly quickly, Ed's things having been packed during the night by a rather bored Al, and followed Sirius on a road out of Rush Valley. Once they were out of sight of the town, he turned off the road, and they walked between two steep cliffs to a small opening. Here, Sirius became human again, and he picked up an unusual-looking rock and held it out in front of him.

"You'd better grab on, it's almost time to go."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "What's the rock got to do with it?"

"It's a portkey. You have to be touching it, so you'd better hurry," Sirius explained.

Al reached out first, and when the armored hand was resting on the stone, Ed relented and placed his hand on it as well.

A few seconds later, Ed was repeating the same phrase over and over in his head:_ don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic,_ and refused to move, even when the world had returned to normal and Al was trying to pull him to his feet.

"Brother, if you don't get up now, I'm going to drag you," Al threatened, tightening his grip on Ed's arm. Ed finally snapped out of it and stood. However, one look around almost caused him to collapse again; only Al's grip kept him on his feet.

They were in a city. There were houses all around them.

Ed stared at his surroundings as Sirius led them forward. There was another man standing on the sidewalk, and Ed wondered briefly why he hadn't reacted to their sudden appearance. Then, as they got closer, he realized that this person was expecting them.

"Oh, good, you made it," the man said as they walked up to him. "How did it go?"

"Pretty well," Sirius replied before turning back to Ed and Al. "Edward, Alphonse, this is Remus Lupin."

After introductions were made, and Ed was subjected to yet another oddity of this world, Sirius was leading the two through a dark hallway. Ed didn't even bother looking up; whatever Al saw up there was enough to startle the armor, so he decided he didn't want to see it.

"Sorry about the state of things here," Sirius whispered as they made their way up the stairs. "This house has been in my family for generations, and let's just say they weren't the most pleasant people, shall we?"

"Why are you whispering?" Ed asked as they passed by a large curtain, keeping his voice low out of sheer fear of being attacked by someone, or something…

"I don't want to wake up my dear old mum," Sirius replied moodily, gesturing to the curtain. "There's a portrait of her behind that curtain."

Ed frowned. "But why does it matter? It's not like a portrait can talk or…" And then he remembered where he was. "Oh…"

They entered a small room, and Sirius closed the door behind him. "Well," he said, his voice back to a normal level. "Here we are. You know, you're adjusting pretty easily to all this," he continued, looking straight at Ed.

"The logical part of my brain's shut down in self-defense," Ed retorted.

Sirius laughed. "Careful, you might need that later on. So, how about lunch? I realize Al probably doesn't want anything, but I'm sure you're hungry."

Ed blinked. "Eh? How'd…"

"Dogs have a pretty good sense of smell," Sirius explained. "And I've never known a human to have no smell other than the faint odor of cats."

Ed immediately glared at his brother. "Another one?"

"No!" Al snapped. "It's been empty for a while, brother."

Ed turned back to Sirius, satisfied with that for the moment. "You didn't say anything up until now."

"Well, I had the feeling you'd rather keep that bit of information private, but now that we're here, I don't think you'll be able to keep that secret for long. Not at Hogwarts, at least," Sirius replied before adding, "Or more specifically, not this year."

"Why not?" Ed asked.

"Umbridge," Sirius said simply. "She's been giving Dumbledore hell this year with all her new rules and regulations. To be honest, she'll probably cause trouble for you when she finds out about Al."

Ed and Al exchanged nervous glances before Al spoke up. "Well, we still have a while before we go there, right? It's not like we have to think about it right now or anything…"

"Good point," Sirius said. "Now come on, let's go eat."

And I know I haven't been very good at updating fics lately, but I promise I'll work on it. I think I have writer's block, though…


	3. Chapter 3

Ugh. Finally. This chapter's mostly people talking, and it's not really the most exciting thing in the world, but whatever. At least I'm putting something up. Also, my copy of the fifth book is missing, so details might be wrong, but WHATEVER. I'm supposed to be writing a human development paper right now so you're lucky you're getting ANYTHING AT ALL. I HAVE POWER OVER WHAT YOU READ MUAHAHA.

Anyways. Next chapter should hopefully be a bit more exciting, but I'll probably wait until I get home for break to do much with it, seeing as all my classes are actually making me do big projects and papers and stuff this week and next and I'm kind of tired of having to rely on what I remember from the fifth book and the Harry Potter wikia to make sure I've gotten stuff right. It just don't work too well.

,.,.,..,.,,…,

The day passed quietly, with Sirius explaining all sorts of wizarding facts to the Elric brothers. Ed stopped paying attention after a while, choosing instead to simply sit and stare at the fireplace behind Sirius. There was just too much to think about…

"Ed!"

Ed started and looked over at Sirius. The elder man didn't seem mad about Ed's lack of interest, though. In fact, he seemed rather amused.

"Let me guess, you never paid much attention in school, either," Sirius said.

"Not when I had better things to do," Ed retorted.

"Then let's move onto something a little more interesting, shall we?" Sirius asked. "This is important history, so you'd better listen up."

Ed nodded vaguely and decided to listen this time.

"All right. Well, the main problem is the relationship between those of us who can use magic and the ones who can't. There are a lot of wizarding families, such as mine, who get the idea that they're better than muggles or muggle-borns. In fact…"

And thus, Ed learned a brief history of Lord Voldemort, and the reason why Ed had never met Harry Potter after the day that picture had been taken. Both Ed and Al were silent for a while after Sirius had finished, but finally Ed broke the silence.

"So he's really back?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Sirius answered. "If Harry said so, and Dumbledore believes him, there's no doubt about it."

"And where does Hohenheim come into all of this?" Ed asked.

"Your father? He wasn't ever an official member of the Order, but he helped us out a lot."

"That's surprising," Ed snorted before he could stop himself.

"Why's that?" Sirius asked.

"I always thought doing something to help others was too complicated for him," Ed answered sarcastically before getting a sharp metal elbow in the stomach.

"Brother, be polite," Al scolded as Ed rubbed his side and glared at him.

Sirius laughed. "You don't need to worry about that around me. I never did care much for rules."

"Oh, great, I'm sure you two will get along just fine, then," Al said as he threw up his hands in mock exasperation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed snapped.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what it means, brother. I'm still surprised they didn't kick you out of the military before now," Al replied.

Ed glared deeply at Al for bringing up that subject, and was rewarded by seeing his brother shrink back in his seat. He then turned back to Sirius, wracking his brains for some way to change the subject. Fortunately, there was no need, as right then, the door opened, and Ed got his first look at a house-elf.

"More nasty guests in Master's house? What are these two, then?" Kreacher muttered as Sirius heaved a resigned sigh and stood up.

"Leave this room now," he commanded, pointing to the door.

Kreacher obeyed sullenly, muttering a few more things about Ed and Al as he did so, and Sirius sat back down with an exasperated look on his face.

"I really wish I could get rid of him," he said.

"Then why don't you?" Ed asked, causing Al to stare at him in horror.

"Brother! That's mean!"

"He knows too much," Sirius replied, ignoring Al's outburst. "This is the headquarters for the new Order of the Phoenix, and if he gave information about this place to the wrong people, then it won't be quite so safe anymore."

"Oh."

"Well," Sirius said, standing up once again. "That's enough serious discussion for today, don't you think? Let's do something fun tonight."

"Sure," Al said, standing up as well.

Ed frowned. "So wait… if you've been stuck in here since the summer, does that mean you've been stuck with that _thing_ for company?"

"You can see why I was glad to get out of here," Sirius replied.

Ed nodded. _Nobody deserved that kind of fate,_ he thought._ Although, now that I think about it…_

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

He was vaguely aware of someone shaking him awake that night, and hearing Al say something about people coming, but after Ed had grunted a vaguely coherent reply, he fell back asleep and forgot all about it. And so, when he was brutally awakened by a pillow hitting him repeatedly in the face, Ed fell out of bed as he tried to attack his red-haired assailants, who happened to be identical.

"Well, it's about time you woke up," one of them said. "It's time for breakfast."

"Wha…?" Ed muttered as he attempted to push himself to his feet.

"We're the Weasley twins," the other said, grabbing Ed's arm and pulling him up. "I'm Fred, and this is George. We've already met your brother."

"Hurry up and get dressed," George said. "Mum wants to meet you."

Before Ed could say anything, the two left the room, leaving him dazed and confused. He sat down on the bed and shook his head a few times to clear it before getting up and getting dressed. He was still in the same room that he had fallen asleep in, so that was a good sign…

After he had braided his hair and pulled on a long-sleeved shirt, Ed made his way downstairs and went into the kitchen. He was surprised to see not only the twins, but two other red-haired kids around his age, a red-haired woman, and a boy that Ed vaguely recognized. He figured the boy was Harry, but he didn't say anything just yet. He was more preoccupied with the question that was haunting his thoughts: who the hell were these people?

"Oh, you must be Edward," the woman said, taking a break from her cooking when she saw him. "I'm Molly Weasley," she continued before going around and introducing everyone else. "These two are my youngest, Ginny and Ron, you've already met Fred and George, and this is Harry Potter."

"Uh, hi…" Ed said weakly, still not quite understanding what was going on.

"Does he even know why we're here?" Ginny asked.

"He should," Sirius said from behind Ed. Ed jumped slightly, not realizing that Sirius had been in the room. "I told him last night."

"Brother doesn't understand anything when he's half-asleep," Al said from behind Sirius. Ed was beginning to remember, though, something about someone being attacked…

"There was an attack last night," Mrs. Weasley explained. "My husband is currently in St. Mungo's, and it's easier to get there from here than from our house."

"Oh…" Ed said. "Is he okay?"

"He should be fine," Mrs. Weasley answered. "Thanks to Harry. Why don't you sit down?"

Ed nodded and did so, taking an empty seat next to Harry, who didn't seem to be too happy about the whole saving Mr. Weasley thing. At the moment, he felt strangely out of place, and he watched his brother help with the cooking for a while before he noticed Ron staring at him.

"What is it?" Ed asked after a moment.

"Is your arm made of metal?" Ron asked curiously.

Ed nodded and pushed up the sleeve. "Yeah, it's like this up to my shoulder. My leg, too."

"Really? Why?"

"I lost my arm and leg a few years ago," Ed replied.

"Oh… Sorry," Ron muttered, looking embarrassed that he had asked.

"Eh, I don't really care. It is pretty odd if you've never seen it before," Ed remarked casually.

"Yeah, I've never seen someone with a half-metal body. Well, there was that one time in transfiguration class where Neville got his aim wrong, but Professor McGonagall got that sorted out almost right away…"

"Breakfast is ready," Mrs. Weasley interrupted. Ed was sort of glad for the interruption, as he wasn't quite sure about how much he liked the previous conversation. They ate quietly for a while before Mrs. Weasley noticed what Al was doing. Or rather, what he wasn't doing.

"Aren't you hungry, Alphonse?" she asked when she realized Al hadn't even bothered to get himself food.

"Oh, um…" Al began.

"He doesn't eat… much, anymore," Ed supplied. "There's kind of some… we haven't quite figured that out yet," he finished lamely, realizing that everyone was staring at them yet again. Ed looked over at Sirius, trying to get some help, because this was becoming awkward.

"Go ahead and say it, Ed," Sirius said simply. "I'm sure most of us have seen stranger."

"Right," Ed muttered. "Well, due to some complicated series of events, Al doesn't have a body. That's actually just his soul in there."

"What?" Ron asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Ed sighed and stood up so that he could reach his brother's head, yanking it off by the tassel. "There's nothing in there," he said before placing the helmet on the table.

"Oh, so he's like a ghost?" Ron asked, the confusion replaced by genuine curiosity.

"Not really. His body's still alive," Ed explained. "It's just… unavailable. I used alchemy to bond his soul to the armor so that he'd stay in this world, or… yeah. Like I said, it's complicated," he finished.

"That does sound complicated," Ginny remarked. "So anyway, Ed, you're here to visit Hogwarts, right? What's your school like?"

Ed blinked. For some reason, he hadn't expected that question. "Oh, I don't go to school. I work for the military back home."

"Oh, great, a soldier," Fred groaned.

"Not really. I just do research," Ed replied.

"What kind of research?" Ron asked.

"That's classified," Ed answered, a playful smile on his face.

"Sure it is," Ginny replied. Ron looked vaguely disappointed.

"Well, I think we should all catch up on our sleep," Mrs. Weasley said. "It's been a long night."

The Weasley children all concurred, and one by one, they all filtered out of the room. However, before Harry could go, Sirius waved him over.

"Here's something you might be interested in," he said, handing Harry the picture he'd shown Ed and Al the other day. Harry took it, looked at it for a moment, and then looked up at Ed and Al.

"Is this your mother?" he asked.

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

"You know, I'd almost forgotten about this," Sirius remarked. "I'm glad I found it, otherwise you'd have thought I was making all this up."

"You're right about that," Ed replied. "But if Hohenheim had been in there I'd have thought it was a fake."

As soon as he finished saying that, however, Ed felt a piercing glare from behind. He looked up at Al in confusion. "What? It's pretty obvious he hated cameras."

"Actually, I think he was busy that night," Sirius said. "And I remember a few group pictures being taken with him in them."

Now it was Ed's turn to glare at Sirius, and he did so for a brief moment before leaving the kitchen.

.,.,.,.,.,

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked.

"He hates our father," Al replied. "Just ignore him. He'll get over it after a while."

"Why does he hate him?" Harry asked. "He sounded like a decent man when I heard about him."

"It's because he was gone for so long," Al replied. "And things probably would have turned out differently if he'd stayed."

"You mean… oh," Harry said, not wanting to finish that thought.

"Yeah," Al said, sounding just as awkward.

"I don't blame him," Sirius said. "I'd be angry too. Well, I think we should probably get some rest now, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry said halfheartedly, walking with Al and Sirius out of the kitchen. Ed and Al were staying in a room near his, and so when Sirius went up to his room, Harry stayed behind to talk with Al. He wasn't much in the mood for sleeping anyway, and there was still a lot he wanted to know about the brothers. If anything, it was a chance to speak with someone who wasn't involved in the affairs of the wizarding world.

"Aren't you tired?" Al asked when he noticed that Harry hadn't gone to his room.

"Not really," Harry replied. "You're new to the wizarding world, right?"

"Ah… yeah, you could say that," Al replied. "I mean, we knew about the school and all that, but we didn't really know what exactly went on there. I mean, Dumbledore said we qualified to go there, but I always figured that that was because of alchemy. I didn't really think… uh…"

"I know, I was surprised when I found out, too," Harry said. "But we should probably get out of the hallway. I wouldn't want to wake up Sirius's mum."

"Right…" Al said, and they entered the Elrics' room quietly, shutting the door behind them. Ed was lounging on his bed, reading a book.

"Hey," Ed said, not looking up from the pages. "What's up?"

"Not much," Al replied. "We were just talking."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "I thought I'd warn you about some of the… more unusual parts of Hogwarts."

"Let me guess, the staircases have a mind of their own," Ed said, his voice tinged with sarcasm."

"Some of them, yeah," Harry replied. "There's false steps, and some staircases lead to different places on different days."

Ed put his book down and looked at Harry incredulously. That look told Harry everything.

"You get used to it after a while," Harry added. "Besides, it's less startling than seeing a ghost or talking to a picture–"

"The pictures talk?" Al asked.

Harry nodded. "The bigger pictures do. They can go out into different frames, too. The entrance to Gryffindor tower has a large portrait of a Fat Lady who asks you for the password."

"Right," Ed muttered as he turned back to his book. "Anything else we should know about?"

"Well, there _is_ a poltergeist…"

They talked for a while longer, Harry explaining everything he would have liked to know before he'd started at Hogwarts. It wasn't very exciting, but at least it helped keep his mind off of less pleasant matters.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Ed was bored. He didn't think that it'd be possible to be bored when surrounded by stuff that defied the laws of physics, but he was. Harry had gone off with the Weasleys to the hospital, and Al had dragged Ed down to hang out with Sirius. Which, at the moment, consisted of them sitting around in a living room and doing nothing.

"This is boring," Ed muttered after a while.

"Now you know how I've felt for the past several months," Sirius replied darkly. "But I guess now would be as good a time as any to get back to wizarding history."

"Sure," Al said, but Ed merely grunted. He listened to Sirius with mild interest for a while before muttering under his breath, "I have so many better things to do."

"You didn't have to come, you know," Sirius said.

Ed winced. He hadn't thought Sirius had heard that. "Well, judging by the way you were stalking us beforehand, it doesn't seem like we had much of a choice."

"Oh, so you noticed?" Sirius asked. "Well, a lot of people have been worried about you two here, and Dumbledore just wanted me to see how you two were living. Though I think that's just the excuse he made to let me get out of this stinking place."

"Why would anybody be worried about us?" Ed asked.

"The last time he heard from you was just before you joined the military," Sirius replied. "I don't know what you wrote, but it must have been pretty worrisome to read it and not hear from you for three years afterwards."

Ed frowned. He hadn't thought much about it at the time, but looking back, what he had written did seem like it would have that effect on someone. "Yeah, I guess I should have explained a bit more," he said finally. "But it's not like my life was ever in danger…" he trailed off at the look Al gave him. "Well, not until Scar showed up, at least."

"Scar?"

"He's some serial killer who targets State Alchemists," Ed explained. "His people were wiped out in a civil war a few years back, and he's so wrapped up in his need for revenge that he's willing to hurt innocent people."

Sirius frowned. "Why State Alchemists?"

"To get that title, you have to be a really good alchemist," Ed explained. "Just think of all the damage you can do on the battlefield. And it doesn't help that the Ishbalan people thought of alchemy as the devil's work."

"Come to think of it, it seems like the same thing's been going on here," Al remarked.

Ed blinked. "Yeah, I guess I could see that. But most Muggles don't know magic exists, right?"

Somewhere inside his head, Ed was congratulating himself for remembering the term 'muggle.'

"No, and there are people in the ministry who work to keep it that way," Sirius replied. "That's actually what Arthur Weasley does."

"Is that how he got injured?" Al asked.

"Oh, no, he was doing something for the Order," Sirius answered. "Speaking of which, they'll probably be getting back soon."

Ed let out a sigh and leaned further back in his seat. The way Sirius had said that last part made him think that the Order was something they weren't supposed to discuss.

"Anyway, Ed, I wanted to apologize for this morning," Sirius continued. "I should have realized you wouldn't want to hear about your father."

Ed grunted. "It's fine. I'll just have to get used to it; something tells me I'll be hearing a lot about him these next few weeks."

"Well, you know, to be fair, he was a good man," Sirius said. "Which is why it was so strange to hear he had left his family behind. It didn't make much sense to me, but I suppose Dumbledore knows the reasoning behind it."

"It doesn't matter why he left anymore," Ed muttered. "It's not like knowing the reason would change what happened to us."

It was quiet in the room for a moment before Sirius changed the subject. "You must have had some interesting experiences in the military, right?"

Ed shrugged. "I guess you could say that. There's a lot of corruption, a few groups who think they'd be better at running the country, getting kicked out of hotels…"

"Why would you be kicked out of a hotel?" Sirius asked.

"Well, the last time it happened, this soldier was making life difficult for the people in his area," Al explained. "And since there are soldiers like him everywhere in Amestris, the people there didn't think there was any decency left."

"Oh, it's the same as assuming every house elf in the wizarding world is like Kreacher."

Ed blinked. "They aren't?"

"Thankfully," Sirius muttered.

Ed was about to comment on that when he heard the door open behind him. Mrs. Weasley entered the room, followed by her children and a couple other people Ed had met earlier. Harry wasn't in the group, but Ed didn't really think about it. It had probably been a stressful day for him.

The rest of the evening passed fairly quietly. Of course, Ed was judging this based on how the magical folk were doing because he had no clue what 'quiet' was for these people, but such was life. He stared at various walls for a good chunk of the evening, feeling rather awkward because, well, he was rather out of place here. And so, he and Al just faded into the background for a while.

Ed was unpleasantly surprised, however, when the subject turned to his father. Of course, he realized later that it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it was unpleasant nonetheless. It happened while they were waiting for dinner, when the weirdo with the creepy eye – Mad-Eye Moody, Ron had called him – looked straight at him and said, "So these are Hohenheim's kids, are they? I've heard you've got a talent for alchemy."

"Yeah," Ed replied.

"Let's see it."

"What, now?" Ed asked.

"Why not?" Sirius replied.

Ed decided it would be pointless to answer that. He looked around, and when he realized everyone was looking at him, Ed gave in.

"Fine," he muttered as he looked at his hands, trying to think of what he should make. After a moment, he decided, and he clapped his hands and placed them on the table. He watched the reactions on the others' faces with a smug feeling; they all looked pretty surprised to see the horse emerge from the table.

"What exactly is that?" Fred asked after a moment.

"It's a horse. You have those here, don't you?" Ed retorted, feeling mildly irritated.

"Looks more like a thestral to me," George commented.

"How would you know? They're invisible," Ron said.

"I've seen drawings," George replied.

"Not in a textbook, I hope," Fred commented.

"Wait, what's a thestral?" Ed asked. He knew he had just been insulted, but he wanted to know how.

"They're these winged horse-like things that you can't see unless you've seen death," Ron explained.

"Really, brother, why didn't you just make a normal horse?" Al asked.

"What's wrong with this one?" Ed snapped. "I think it looks cool!"

"It doesn't look like a horse, that's for sure," Fred added.

"You're going to change my table back to normal, aren't you?" Sirius asked.

Ed grunted in mild irritation at Fred's comment, clapped his hands, and returned the table to its original state. Then he sat back and waited for everyone to stop talking about what he'd made.

"But that is pretty impressive, making stuff without a wand," Ron said.

Moody was still watching Ed, as he had been throughout the demonstration. "Just like his father, all right," he said gruffly. "Looks the same, too."

"So I've heard," Ed muttered.

"He did quite a lot for the original Order, that man. He trapped quite a few Death Eaters with his alchemy, didn't even move an inch when he did it."

Ed raised an eyebrow at this. Hohenheim hadn't even needed to clap his hands?

However, any further thoughts he had on the subject vanished as something slammed into Ed and caused him to fall gracelessly to the ground. He could hear a mix of laughter and Mrs. Weasley screaming as Al pulled him up by the arms and sat him back down.

"What just happened?" Ed asked, feeling a little dazed.

"I don't know," Al replied. "But I think I know who's responsible."

Sure enough, Mrs. Weasley's anger was directed at the twins, who didn't seem to regret their actions in the least. Since nobody was really paying attention to him anymore, Ed took the opportunity to take Al's chair, which would hopefully keep Moody from talking to him anymore.

Once again, as soon as the conversation had turned to something different, Ed and Al gratefully faded into the background, and it stayed that way until one of the twins sat down right next to Ed.

"Don't like your dad much, Ed?" Fred asked quietly.

"What gives you that idea?" Ed asked back in a not-so-innocent tone.

"I hate to break it to you, but you're not the best actor."

"Neither is Harry, incidentally," the other twin chimed in. "Imagine, just happening to feel sick after doing a little spying…"

"It fooled Mum, at least."

"I wonder how long he's going to sulk. Someone's probably going to have to talk some sense into him."

"Are you even talking to me anymore?" Ed interrupted.

"'Course we are, Eddie! We're preparing you for what's to come!"

"Gee, thanks," Ed muttered sarcastically.

"You're welcome."

Ed tried to reply to that, but he couldn't think of anything. In the end, he gave up, and the rest of the night passed peacefully. When he and Al finally headed to bed, Ed didn't have a chance to think about the day's events. His brain had had to endure too much nonsensical information, and all it wanted to do was shut off. He was asleep within minutes of lying down.

.,.,.,.,

The next day was much easier for Ed than the last. He had gotten used to some of the more prominent things in Sirius's house, and he had a pretty good idea of what was going on in this world. Harry was still avoiding human contact, but Ed didn't wonder about that too much. All the other young people seemed to know what was going on with him, and after a brief conversation with Ron and Ginny, Ed had a pretty good idea himself.

"Hey, you've got nothing to do with us," Ron said suddenly after they had finished dinner and were heading upstairs. "Maybe you can convince him to stop avoiding everyone."

"How am I supposed to do that? It's not like there's anything I can say to get him to come down," Ed replied.

"It's worth a shot," Ginny said. "Besides, if you're careful, he won't even know we put you up to it."

Ed sighed and relented. "Fine, I'll see what I can do."

Just then, there was a loud crack, and Ed would have fallen down the stairs if Al hadn't caught him. He also would have sworn very loudly if Al hadn't covered his mouth.

"Now, Eddie, how are you going to survive at Hogwarts if you don't stay alert at all times?"

"Constant vigilance, little one!"

Ed broke out of Al's grip, glared at the twins, and would have come up with a very nasty retort if he hadn't remembered the gigantic screaming picture below them. He decided to save it for later and stalked quietly up the stairs. Harry was in a room with something called a hippogriff; Ed decided he'd try to get Harry to come out instead of going in there.

"Hey, Harry?" he called as he knocked on the door.

There was no response.

"It's not like it matters if you talk to me. I barely know what's going on and nobody here knows who I am except for you guys."

Still nothing. Ed sighed and leaned against the door. "Fine, I get the point. If you change your mind, let me know. One of those twins just insulted me and I don't think I'm going back down there anytime soon."

The door opened, and Ed fell onto his back with a startled yelp. There was a split second in which Harry stared down at him before Ed moved out of the way, Harry closed the door, and they sat in the entrance in silence.

"I'm not going down there," Harry said flatly.

"That's nice. I just figured you might want to have a change in scenery."

"You're a horrible liar, Ed."

Ed sighed. "Fine, fine. Your friends put me up to it. But still, don't you think they'd have something useful to say?"

"They don't know what it's like!" Harry snapped. "I mean, it's not like it's normal to be seeing through Voldemort's snake's eyes!"

"You've got a point there," Ed said. "But I heard Ginny say something about her first year of school…"

"Harry!"

Ed looked up. There was someone walking towards them, a girl who definitely wasn't part of the Weasley family. She stopped when she saw Ed and took a moment to introduce herself.

"You must be Edward. I'm Hermione Granger. I'm one of Harry's classmates."

"Hi," Ed replied.

"What are you doing here, Hermione? I thought you were going to spend the holidays with your parents."

"Oh, skiing's not really my thing," Hermione said. "But I've told Ron it's wonderful. He's been making fun of it enough as it is."

_Skiing…?_ Ed thought. He hadn't heard a lot about that, but he knew for sure that it wasn't a magical sport.

"Anyway, Ron told me you've been sulking up here. Can't you at least talk about what happened?"

Ed gave Harry an encouraging look. "You might as well. It's not like things'll get better just by sitting up here."

Hermione gave Ed a grateful look. Harry looked from one to the other and eventually let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, I'll come down."

Ed followed the two at a distance; he wasn't sure whether he should be more involved or not. He was spared having to make a decision, however, when Al told him he'd gotten a letter. Ed took it and led his brother into their room before opening it.

"It's addressed to both of us," Ed remarked. "From Dumbledore."

"What's it say?" Al asked.

Ed frowned as he read through the letter. "He doesn't think you should come."

"What? Why not?"

"Something about a teacher being too interested in the students for her own good. I guess this is the woman Sirius mentioned."

"But what am I supposed to do, then?"

Ed shrugged. "Go back home, I guess. Or stay here. Or we could just both go home and forget the whole thing."

Al shook his head. "No, brother. We've already come all this way. I can survive on my own for a couple of weeks."

Ed glanced over the letter one more time and put it on his suitcase. "If you say so."

"Did he say anything else?"

Ed shrugged. "Mostly stuff about what'll happen when I get there. I've been exempted from wearing the school uniform, I need to meet him in his office the minute I arrive, I shouldn't talk about where I'm from unless it's with someone who already knows…"

"That sounds pretty reasonable."

"I like the uniform part," Ed admitted. "I think I'd look pretty stupid in one."

"So that's why you've refused to wear a military uniform… And here I always thought you didn't wear them because you didn't like the military."

"Of course that's why I don't touch those things!" Ed snapped. "Jeez, Al…"

They talked about the decision to have Al stay behind for a while, and in the end, they decided that Al would stay with Sirius until it was time for him and Ed to go back to Amestris. That way, Al would still be able to find some stuff out and Sirius wouldn't be left alone with that creature. Ed would just have to get used to not having his brother around.

,.,.,.,.,.,.

I started thinking in a British accent while writing the last part of this. It's rather annoying, but not as annoying as the creepy, disgusting mental images I keep getting for no apparent reason. Or the people who are being loud and obnoxious in a computer lab where most people are trying to _study._ Or writing fanfiction. Or having to use the latest version of Word, which I think sucks.

But on a brighter note, you can expect some good jokes next chapter. I like funny jokes. They're funny. Ha ha ha. I wish I had my computer. Blah.


	4. Chapter 4

I didn't mention this in the last chapter, but Ed's sharing a bedroom with the twins. Just because.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

"So you've really been studying alchemy all your life?" Hermione asked. They were eating dinner in the kitchen, and Ed had just told some story about transmuting the bathroom door shut on Al after a fight; he'd been caught right away and forced to apologize to his brother, even though _he'd_ been the one with a bloody nose and a headache.

"For most of it, yeah," Ed replied. "Since we could read, at least."

"Do they have schools for alchemy there?"

Ed shrugged. "I doubt it. Most people don't really understand alchemy until they're a lot older, and they usually find some person who'll teach them. That's what we did, at least."

"Really? What was your teacher like?"

Ed and Al exchanged glances. "Strict," Al said carefully. "And kind of harsh."

"_Kind of?_" Ed repeated incredulously.

"Okay, really harsh," Al corrected. "But she really knew what she was doing. We learned more from her than we ever could have on our own."

"How did you find out you could do it, then? From what I've heard, it's rather difficult to perform alchemy by accident like kids do with magic."

"We just read books we had at home on it," Al explained. "It wasn't all that hard."

"Mom freaked out when she found out, though," Ed said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah, she was stunned. She said if other alchemists found out, it'd be a mockery of their efforts."

"Of course it would be, if a couple of kids could understand it when most adults have trouble with it," Sirius interjected. "Your dad showed me a beginner's alchemy book once, and it all went over my head."

"I'd be interested in learning more about it," Hermione remarked.

Ed didn't miss the look that Harry and Ron exchanged. Neither did Hermione, apparently, judging by what she said next.

"Oh, come on, you two. It could be useful."

"Yeah, I can just think how trapping Professor Umbridge in a bathroom would make the whole day better," Ron said dreamily. Harry snorted.

"Well, if you're done eating, why don't you help decorate the place for Christmas?" Sirius asked. "There's plenty to be done, still."

The three magical teenagers agreed, and since there was nothing else Ed and Al could think of doing, they agreed to it as well, even though Ed had no idea what Sirius was talking about.

"What'd you get me for Christmas?" Ron asked Hermione as they put stuff up on the walls of the living room. Harry and Al were out in the hall with Sirius.

"As if I'm telling you," Hermione replied. "You can just wait and find out later. That reminds me, though, this is your first wizarding Christmas, isn't it, Ed?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Ed said uncomfortably. "Considering I'd never heard of it before this morning."

"What?! You've never heard of Christmas?" Ron exclaimed.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" Ed snapped. "It doesn't exist back in Amestris."

"Well, that would make sense, actually," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I can't believe I didn't think about that. Of course you wouldn't have the same holidays as us."

"Yeah, good point," Ed said. "What exactly is Christmas, though?"

"Well, it's basically a day where everyone gives gifts to their friends and family, and then they usually spend time together with these people, and there are decorations and feasts and parties and all sorts of things like that. Traditional Christmas colors are red and green, and it's always on December 25th. There's more to it than that, but that's how we'll be celebrating it so that's all you really need to know for now."

Ed nodded. "Sounds like fun. I didn't realize I'd be here for something like that, though."

"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem. I doubt anyone's expecting you to follow our customs right away."

"Hey, maybe you could get rid of that awful picture of Sirius's mum as a gift to him," Ron suggested.

"I don't think I could do that if it's stuck on there with magic," Ed said. "But it _is_ a good idea…"

Any further speculation, however, was cut off by a loud crack. Ed, to his dismay, was the only one who was startled by the sudden appearance of the twins, and he didn't even get a chance to recover when they turned on him.

"We heard your brother decided to stay behind," Fred began.

"Yeah, we decided it'd be easier to just avoid any questions about him," Ed said as he got to his feet.

"That's a shame," George added. "How will anybody find you without him?"

"…What did you just say?" Ed asked.

"On the other hand, maybe it's better for him to be on his own. That way he'd be too small a target for Umbridge or any of the Slytherins," Fred countered.

"Why, you–"

"But then wouldn't that make it more difficult for us?" George asked. "We'd have to shout at him and hope he's tall enough to hear us!"

"Maybe we can get a big magnet and use that to find him," Fred suggested, cutting off Ed's next attempt at a protest.

"Good idea. I don't think Filch has banned those yet…"

"Will you stop calling me short?" Ed snapped.

"Why, Eddie, what makes you think we're calling you short? You're so short-sighted."

"Sh– why, you–"

"And such a short temper, too! You'll have to watch that when we get to school."

Ed was saved from any more of this by a loud crash from the hallway, followed by the typical screams of Mrs. Black. All five of them went outside to see what had happened – evidently something had been knocked over in the hall, because Harry was putting it back up while Sirius and Al forced the curtains over the portrait closed.

"Well, Eddie, if it's any consolation, at least you're taller than Professor Flitwick," Fred said as he and George went downstairs to help out.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The next days passed more quickly than Ed thought they would, and he found himself being rudely awakened on Christmas morning, though this wasn't a drastic change from how he usually woke up in this place. He sat up with some effort and was about to get out of bed when he noticed something at his feet.

"You've got presents, Eddiekins!" Fred exclaimed.

"Why?" Ed asked, not quite awake enough to comprehend the situation.

"Because it's Christmas and people seem to like you. Open the one on top first. That's from us."

Ed frowned and took the package. The twins busied themselves with presents of their own, only stopping when Ed asked what the stuff in the little box he'd opened was supposed to be.

"This, my little friend, is a sample box," Fred explained. "Of some of our wares. We're in the process of starting up a joke shop, you see, and these are some of the products we've perfected."

"Just make sure you read the instructions we put in there. We wouldn't want you to accidentally kill yourself."

"…Are these things lethal?"

"Not if you have access to a wizard hospital," George said fairly. "But we're assuming you don't have one of those back in your country."

"Not that I know of."

"In that case, make sure you follow the instructions carefully."

Ed took a look at what was inside, reading the instructions and wondering when he'd ever need to start puking his guts out. Of course, now that he was secretly disobeying the military, getting sick on purpose would probably come in handy…

"Thanks," he said, closing the box and putting it in his suitcase.

"You're welcome."

He turned back to the other two packages, and opened a rather lumpy one to reveal a red scarf.

"That would be from our mum," George said. "I suppose she wants to make you feel welcome here."

"She's probably going to try to do something about your hair next."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Ed asked, putting the scarf next to his coat. It matched perfectly.

"It's much too long," Fred said in an imitation of Mrs. Weasley. "That's just not proper for a young man such as yourself."

"Funny, the military doesn't seem to care," Ed muttered as he reached for the last one. He pulled the paper off what he soon saw was a small book. Since there was no title, he opened it and found himself staring at a picture of his parents.

"You know, it's funny, Harry looks exactly like his dad except for his eyes, and you look exactly like your dad except for–"

"If you say it I will transmute you to the wall," Ed growled. The picture was taped to the book's first page, and underneath was a note.

_We found a few pictures of your family around here. I know you don't care much about your dad, but I thought you'd at least like to see more of your mum. There are a couple more pictures in here. The rest of the book is about how alchemy works in this world._

_-Sirius_

Ed stared at the first picture for a while. Something about seeing his mom smiling and moving around, even if it was just in a small photo, was overwhelming. When he finally brought himself to look away, he noticed that the twins were looking thoughtfully at him.

"You're awfully serious for your age," George remarked. "You haven't forgotten how to be a kid, have you?"

"Huh? I'm not exactly a kid anymore, you know,"

"'Course you are. You're younger than us, and we've only just come of age."

"Well, it's not like I can just do whatever I want anymore," Ed said as he braided his hair. "The military's so corrupt that doing what's right is illegal half the time."

"Well, this sounds familiar," Fred commented. "I suppose you'll know how to behave around Professor Umbridge, then."

"Sounds wonderful," Ed muttered.

"Come on, Mum's probably got breakfast ready now."

Ed pulled on some clothes and followed the twins downstairs, half-listening to them as they talked about previous Christmas mornings and how there wouldn't be one with the whole family for a while.

"Wait, you mean there's more people in your family?" Ed asked.

"Of course. There's Bill, he works at the bank…"

"Charlie, he's studying dragons in Romania…"

"And then there's Percy the Prat. He works for the ministry, but he's disowned himself from the family."

"Why?" Ed asked.

"Well, he reckons Harry's either lost it or trying to help Dumbledore overthrow the Ministry," Fred explained.

"And since the rest of us believe Harry, he thinks we're going to destroy his reputation if he's friendly with us."

"So now Mom cries whenever anyone mentions him and Dad acts like he doesn't exist. We've thought about sending him a Howler, but it would probably get Dad in trouble somehow."

"What's a howler?" Ed asked.

"It's a letter that screams at you when you open it," Fred answered.

"And if you don't open it, it'll burst into flames and scream at you anyway."

"They're embarrassing to get at school, since everyone gets their mail at breakfast when the Great Hall's full."

"I remember when Ron got one his second year. His ears went so red I thought blood was going to start gushing out of them."

They opened the door to the kitchen and went in, just in time to see Mrs. Weasley begin to cry.

"What is it?" Fred asked, moving up to his mother with some concern.

"I-It's P-Percy, h-he's sent back his j-jumper a-and didn't even w-write a note," Mrs. Weasley answered, pointing to the parcel she'd just dropped on the table.

"Oh, Mum, you don't need to _cry_ about that…" Fred said in an attempt to comfort his mother.

"Yeah, Percy's nothing but a humongous pile of rat droppings anyway–"

Mrs. Weasley cried even harder. Lupin, who had been reading the paper at the kitchen table, stood and walked around to her. "He'll come around, Molly…"

"Well, I think we've done all we can," Fred muttered as he and George backed away towards the door, where Ed was still standing. "Come on, let's go warn the others."

"Meet you up in Ron's room," George said to Ed before he and Fred disappeared with a crack.

The shock at seeing them do this wore off within seconds, since Ed had seen it several times by now, and he immediately left the room and walked up the stairs to Harry and Ron's room. He opened the door just as Fred and George arrived.

The rest of the morning was decent enough. Ed met one more of the Weasley family when Bill arrived, and when he saw the way Mrs. Weasley kept looking at her son's hair, Ed felt grateful that he wasn't exactly close to anyone here. He liked his hair.

"Well, it's about time to head to the hospital," Mrs. Weasley said after they had eaten. Ed was going to go with them – Mr. Weasley wanted to be sure to meet him before they left for school, and Ed was intrigued by the idea of a wizard's hospital. "Make sure you dress warm."

"And make sure you don't do anything stupid," Al added. Ed shot him a death glare before heading upstairs to get his coat and – partially to humor Mrs. Weasley – his new scarf. They left not long after that, Ed experiencing yet another aspect of magic that he wasn't used to – things that were bigger on the outside than the inside. Even worse was when they arrived at the hospital. Walking through glass and finding yourself in a completely different place was unpleasant on so many levels. However, he quickly forgot his dislike for things that didn't make sense, because the place he'd just entered looked much more festive than anything Ed had ever seen. He had to admit that magic made things better in cases like these.

He stayed towards the back as they walked through the hospital to the ward where Mr. Weasley was staying. It was only when Mrs. Weasley ushered him up to the front that Ed was forced to stop being an observer and actually talk to people.

"So you're Edward!" Mr. Weasley said brightly. "How are you adjusting so far?"

"Fine, I guess," Ed replied.

"You'll be fine," Mr. Weasley said airily as he began to open Harry's gift.

Ed shrugged. He'd been told that before, and even though it was against his will, he was seeing the truth in it more and more each day. He watched in silence as Mrs. Weasley began interrogating her husband, and decided that he'd follow the others when things got a bit out of hand.

All in all, the trip went well. Ed met another student at the hospital, though the circumstances weren't all that great, and he was in a decent mood when he went to bed that night.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The next week or so was a strange one. Sirius wasn't in the best of moods, but according to Harry, it wasn't as bad as it had been over the summer. Harry thought it was because Sirius would have some company for a while, and Ed had to agree. Al was much more interesting to talk to than that old house elf.

Harry didn't want to go back to school, and from what he'd told Ed, he had every reason not to. The night before they were going to head back, Ed saw Professor Snape for the first time, and this was the first moment when he realized just how little Harry had been exaggerating.

"You mean you've got to have extra lessons with _Snape?_" Ron asked incredulously that night. "That sounds horrible!"

"School's going to be a nightmare," Harry muttered. "How am I going to learn anything if I've got to be with Snape?"

"Maybe having him in your head will be so awful that you'll learn faster just to get him out," Ed suggested.

"That wasn't very funny, Ed," Harry said.

"I wasn't trying to be funny. It's like what my teacher used to do."

"What did she do?"

"…Never mind," Ed said with a shudder.

"Oh, come on, it can't be _that_ bad."

"You say that now, but if you ever meet her…"

Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances. "What's wrong with you, Ed? You're acting just like Neville does when he talks about Snape."

"Well, she was definitely a good teacher," Ed said. "It's just that she's a little intimidating at times."

"So, you're terrified of her?" Harry said.

"…So, how are we getting there tomorrow?" Ed asked.

"You _are_ terrified of her!" Ron exclaimed. "And I thought you wouldn't be easy to scare!"

"I'm not."

_Crack._

"Augh!"

"Oh, come on, Eddie, I thought you would be used to that by now," George said, pulling Ed up by the arm.

"I thought so too," Ed muttered.

"So, are you ready for your very first day?" Fred asked. "I've heard transfer students have to pass a test before they can get in."

"Good thing I'm just a visiting student, then," Ed said indifferently.

"Speaking of which, how long will you be staying?"

"I dunno," Ed replied. "I've gotta get back home soon, though."

"Hopefully Umbridge doesn't give you any trouble," Ron said.

"Even if she does, I've dealt with plenty of military officials who've been too nosy for their own good," Ed said. "I've gotten pretty good at lying over the years."

"Let's hope she doesn't catch you at it," Harry said, showing Ed the back of his hand.

"Eh, I'll just tell her what she wants to hear," Ed muttered.

"What, you're going to tell her that you think I'm a nutter?" Harry asked testily.

"I wasn't planning on being so blunt about it, but yeah," Ed replied. "My commanding officer always gets friendly with people he hates at first. He says it makes doing something terrible to them sting even more in the end."

That comment got a laugh. They spent the rest of the evening discussing the various ways Ed could do major damage to Umbridge's pride just before he left, and that evening, Ed spent his few minutes lying bed before he fell asleep wondering what this woman was really like. His gut feeling was that nobody here was lying to him about anything, but he'd grown up in a world where gut feelings hardly meant anything. He hoped it was different here.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The next day started out miserably. Ed practically had to be dragged downstairs by his brother, and he braided his hair in the entrance hall, watching curiously as Sirius handed Harry something. He said his own farewells to his brother, Sirius, and the Weasley parents a moment later, and followed everyone outside, watching in amazement as Tonks flagged down a bus that came out of nowhere.

The bus ride was the worst part of the day. The only upside was that he wasn't alone in this sentiment. In fact, everyone seemed to hate riding on this crazy bus, but Ed had to admit, it got you to where you needed to go. He spent a couple of minutes recuperating as they got off, only listening half-heartedly as Lupin gave him a final warning about keeping quiet about his country. When he finally regained his wits, he couldn't help but be a little amazed at what he was seeing in front of him.

"And here I thought you were exaggerating about the size," Ed muttered to Harry as they entered the grounds. A stern-looking woman was standing at the front steps, and she looked directly at their group as they approached, or more specifically, straight at Ed.

"Edward Elric, I presume?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Ed replied. He felt this woman deserved his respect.

"I am Professor McGonagall. The Headmaster asked me to take you to his office immediately."

"All right," Ed said, and he said "see you later" to the others before following Professor McGonagall inside the castle. Almost everything he saw was fascinating and disturbingly magical as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. Eventually he gave up on looking at everything and decided to ask McGonagall something.

"So… what are you a professor of?"

"Transfiguration," McGonagall replied. "I understand your background knowledge in magic is limited to your country's alchemy, is it not?"

"To be frank, I had no idea that magic really existed," Ed said wryly. "We consider alchemy to be a science back home."

"I am aware of that, and Professor Dumbledore has told me that this is indeed the case with your alchemy. However, you will find that you are in the minority in that area."

"I had a feeling that would be the case."

They had arrived at a gargoyle statue, and McGonagall said some nonsense word that Ed didn't bother paying attention to. Moments later, Ed found himself face-to-face with Dumbledore once again.

"Well, I see you made it here in one piece," Dumbledore said as Ed sat down.

"For now, at least," Ed replied.

"Have you adjusted well so far?"

"Well, I haven't lost it yet, so I'd say so."

Dumbledore smiled. "I seem to remember your father having the same reaction when he first came here. Now, then, to business. I need to have you try on this hat."

Ed didn't know what he'd expected, but it hadn't been that. He took the frayed, dirty hat and placed it on his head, giving Dumbledore a confused look that turned into shock as the hat started talking in his ear.

"Hmm, quite a challenge here. You've got the brains for Ravenclaw, but you've got the courage that rivals even the bravest of Gryffindors… Yes, you're certainly a challenge… you could even fit into Slytherin, you are quite cunning…"

_What the hell is this thing talking about?_ Ed wondered, and he flinched when the hat replied.

"Why, I'm trying to find what House you should be placed in. Yes, yes, I think you'd do well in Gryffindor, I can see you're not afraid to make sacrifices for those you care about… Takes a lot of courage, that… Yes, Gryffindor it is, Professor."

That last part was said aloud, and Ed pulled the hat off as soon as he was allowed to. "What exactly was that about?" he asked.

"That was to see which House you should stay in while you're here. It won't matter too much, since your stay will be short, but I thought we ought to do the thing properly," Dumbledore replied. "Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys are all in Gryffindor as well, so it will be easier for you to adjust, I think."

Ed nodded blankly. He'd just had a hat tell him about his personality, and all he wanted was to get away from it.

"I won't keep you long," Dumbledore said brightly. "I just wanted to make sure you know a few of our most important rules, and I think your schedule ought to be the same as Harry's for the sake of simplicity. You might also find that he finds some of the classes here as strange as you do."

Ed wasn't sure what he meant by that, but it didn't matter. He supposed he'd find out soon enough. He listened to the various school rules, and was about to leave when Dumbledore called him back.

"I nearly forgot – Sirius Black is on the run from the law, so do not mention him to anyone besides those you met at his house. His codename is Snuffles, I believe."

"Right."

"I would also like to say that I'm glad to see you here, and that I wish your circumstances had permitted you to come in the first place."

Ed felt a pang of guilt at that. "Me, too," he said after a moment.

"Would you be willing to teach a class on your alchemy?"

"Sure," Ed replied.

"Good. We will meet later on to discuss that. For now, though, I suggest you head to Gryffindor tower. Professor McGonagall will take you there."

"All right."

"See you later, Edward."

Ed turned the doorknob with some relief. "See you."

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

"Well? What did Dumbledore have to say?" Harry asked as soon as Ed had sat on the bed that had been added to the fifth year boys' dorm for him.

"I had to put on some crazy talking hat that said I was going to go to Gryffindor, and then he told me a bunch of rules, warned me not to talk about Snuffles in public, and told me I'd be in the classes you're in so I don't get horribly lost," Ed replied. "Then he said he was glad I finally got my ass over here."

"Why'd he want you to come, anyway?" Ron asked. "You said your alchemy was more like science than magic, so how'd you get accepted?"

"Beats me," Ed replied. "I guess alchemy's enough like magic for it to work or something. By the way," he continued, turning to Harry as he spoke. "What'd Sirius give you?"

"I dunno, I haven't opened it yet," Harry replied. "But I'm not using whatever it is. I don't want to make him leave his house because of me."

"Who says he will? Besides, it's not like knowing what it is will do any damage."

"He's got a point, Harry," Ron said. "And what if it's some way of communicating with him?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said, and he pulled the package out from his trunk and opened it. Within the package were a note and a mirror.

"What's the note say?" Ron asked.

"He says it's a kind of mirror that you can talk through," Harry replied. "He says that he and my dad used them all the time when they were in detention."

"And Umbridge can't watch over it?"

"If she could, he wouldn't have given it to me, would he?" Harry replied. "I wonder if it works…" And, after glancing at the door, Harry looked at the mirror and said clearly, "Sirius Black."

There was a moment in which nothing happened, but then Sirius's face appeared in the mirror, and he was grinning.

"I see you've opened it," he said to Harry. "How was your trip?"

"Horrible," all three boys replied, but Ed noticed that Harry was grinning.

"Well, at least you all survived."

"Yeah, though I think Ed wouldn't have if we'd been on there much longer," Harry said with a grin. Ed replied to that with a half-playful shove.

"Anyone giving you any trouble, Ed?"

"Not yet," Ed replied. "But I've only met one person I didn't already know."

"Yeah? Who?"

"Professor McGonagall."

"Yeah, she's nice enough if you stay on her good side," Sirius said. "All you have to do is keep out of trouble and do as you're told."

"Yeah, she doesn't ask for much," Ron said sarcastically.

"Wait a sec, I think I hear footsteps," Ed said, looking up at the doorway.

"I'd better be going, then," Sirius said. "Be careful, Harry. Don't use this unless you have to, all right?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry replied. "Bye, Sirius."

Sirius disappeared then, and Harry put the mirror in his trunk just as the door opened and two boys entered. One was dark skinned, and the other Ed recognized from the hospital.

"Oh, hi," Neville said. "So you're in Gryffindor, then?"

"Yeah," Ed replied.

"Who's this?" the other boy asked.

"He's a visiting student," Ron said. "He's an alchemist. Ed, this is Dean Thomas. He's in our year, too."

"I'm Edward Elric," Ed said, shaking Dean's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Ed," Dean said. "How was your break, you two? Everything work out all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine now," Ron replied.

"Great. Well, I'm going down to dinner. How about you guys?"

"Sounds good to me," Ron said.

"Me too," Harry agreed. "How about you, Ed?"

"Sure."

"Is that what you're wearing?" Neville asked, looking at Ed's coat.

"Yeah. It's kind of a typical alchemist's uniform, so they thought it'd be appropriate," Ed lied.

"Really?" Neville asked.

"No, but I'm probably the only alchemist from where I'm from you'll ever meet, so it doesn't really matter, does it?" Ed asked with a grin.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Besides, the symbol on my back is one that a lot of alchemists use, so I think it's appropriate," Ed continued as they walked down the stairs to the common room.

He got a lot of stares wherever they went, although, as Harry reminded him as they entered the Great Hall, some of them were meant for Harry. Ed felt some sympathy for him as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. Being infamous was downright horrible at times.

"I wonder if Dumbledore's going to announce that you're staying with us," Ron said.

"Why would he?" Ed asked.

"Well, the only time we've ever had guest students was last year, when we had the Triwizard Tournament. They didn't take our classes, though."

"That's just since we've been here, though," Hermione pointed out. "But I still don't see why he wouldn't. People are bound to be curious about you."

All of a sudden, Ed felt a bit conspicuous with his red coat in this sea of black. He felt even more conspicuous when Dumbledore stood, got the entire school's attention, and announced that they would have an exchange student in their midst for a week or two.

"Well, it saves the trouble of explaining who you are to everyone," George said from across the table. "D'you know what classes you're in?"

"He's with us," Ron said.

"Ah. I thought Dumbledore might have put you in with the first years, so you didn't stick out as much."

"Eh?"

"Well, I don't suppose you'd technically be sticking out, you'd just make everyone wonder whether you're old enough to be a fifth year," Fred explained. "Well, we've got some business to attend to, so we'll see you later." And with that, the twins left, leaving Ed staring numbly at their retreating backs.

"You know, they might have left you alone if your height didn't bother you so much," Ron remarked.

"You saying there's something wrong with my height?" Ed snapped.

"Not really. It's just the fact that it bothers you when someone calls you small. If you acted like you didn't care, it wouldn't be so much fun to tease you about it."

Ed didn't respond to that, because he'd noticed that someone was staring at him from the staff table. Said someone was short, wide, and toad-like in appearance. Ed suppressed a shudder and turned to Harry.

"Is that Umbridge?" he asked, gesturing to the woman.

"Yeah. She'll probably try to corner you soon," Harry replied.

"Lovely."

They finished eating a few minutes later, and headed up to the dorms for the night. Harry had said that Mondays were the worst days in his schedule, so at least Ed knew for sure that he would experience something unusual…

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Well, now, Ed remembered the mirror! What changes could this possibly bring? Anywho, Ed made it to Hogwarts, so things'll pick up from here on out. I was going to do more on the hospital visit, but then I decided that I really didn't want to drag this chapter out any longer, so I didn't.

I love doing Ed/Twin dialogue. So many opportunities to do short puns!


	5. Chapter 5

Fgdfhgsrrhgdfb here you go new chapter. It could use some work still, but WHATEVER. At least it's done and up. Enjoy.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

It didn't take Ed long to realize that he was in for a very rough day. He'd been woken up by a pillow to the face, then he'd had to put up with everyone they passed by staring at him as though he was some kind of celebrity, although some of the less-than-friendly looks were probably meant for Harry. He spent breakfast wondering how the hell he'd managed to be convinced that this was a good idea, then got his first big shock when the mail arrived.

He'd been warned about it, of course, but seeing a bunch of owls rush in through the windows was still enough to startle Ed into complete consciousness, which he'd been lacking up until that point. It took him a moment to get used to the flapping of wings and the general noises of owls landing everywhere, and then he got another surprise when an owl landed in front of him.

"You're supposed to take the note," Ron said, his mouth half filled with food. Ed did so, then the owl flew off in a rush. He watched it fly off for a moment before turning his attention to the note.

_Mr. Elric,_

_Please meet me in my office this evening at 6 pm sharp. I would like to discuss the lecture you'll be giving to the students here._

_Also, Professor Dumbledore and I would like to remind you to follow school rules, and to respect the expectations of Professor Umbridge._

_Professor McGonagall_

"What's it say?" Ron asked, finishing off a sausage as he spoke.

"I'm supposed to meet Professor McGonagall tonight to talk about teaching you guys alchemy or something," Ed replied, folding the note and putting it in the small notebook he'd brought with him.

"Can you teach us how to trap people inside rooms?" Ron asked. "I'd love to be able to use that…"

"That's way too complicated for you guys," Ed said, stepping over the bench with the others on their way to their first class of the day. "If we ever do get to the point of actually transmuting stuff, it'll be small stuff made up of one element."

"Will you be showing us how to change one element to another?" Hermione asked. "We've been doing that sort of thing since we were first years, some of us are liable to get bored if you do something too simple," she explained, shooting Ron and Harry a glare.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Harry asked. "I swear I'll pay attention if it's Ed. Besides, if you can use alchemy without a wand, then I'm all for learning it."

"You can, but it's complicated stuff." Ed stretched his arms as they turned a corner and walked down another hallway. "I think I'm gonna stick with just changing the shape of something first, that's pretty easy to understand." He stopped suddenly in his tracks at that as he realized something. "Wait, do you guys know a whole lot about physics and chemistry and stuff?"

"What?" Ron asked. "Isn't that muggle stuff?"

Ed groaned. "So much for easy…"

"Don't worry, Ed, Harry and I went to muggle schools when we were kids, and there's sure to be other muggle-borns around who can help explain the basics," Hermione said reassuringly.

Ed sighed. "I hope so…"

They spent the first part of the morning sitting and listening to a ghost ramble on about wizarding history. Ed had been warned that History of Magic was the most boring class in the history of boring, but he couldn't believe it until about ten minutes into the class. That is, after he'd gotten over the shock of the teacher gliding into the room through the chalkboard. He'd listened with interest at first, thinking the content of Professor Binns's lectures would outweigh the fact that he spoke in the most sleep-inducing monotone he'd ever heard, but he was soon proven wrong. Then he imitated Ron and Harry, and passed notes with them while only half-listening to what Professor Binns had to say. It was, in the end, a very educational class, but not because Ed now knew an hour's worth of wizarding history.

"I'd have thought someone like you would have had a genuine interest in our history," Hermione scolded Ed after the class had ended.

"Not really," Ed replied. "There's nothing all that mind-blowing about it except that instead of people killing each other, you've got a few different species in there too."

"Yeah, you'd think goblin revolutions would be more exciting," Ron remarked as they passed by a group of staring little kids. "Maybe if he'd change his tone every once in a while…"

"I don't see how you two are going to pass the O.W.L. for that class," Hermione said. "I mean, maybe if you _listened_ once in a while…"

"Even if they did listen, it's hard to actually learn anything in that kind of setting," Ed said in their defense. "It's easier to learn stuff through practice and application than it is just by listening and reading and writing it down."

"That's why Umbridge doesn't want us practicing defense magic," Harry remarked. "It'd be easier for us to remember it when we take over the ministry under Dumbledore's orders."

"Wait, what?" Ed asked.

"We'll explain later," Harry whispered as the professor in question appeared in the hallway in front of them. She looked appraisingly at the group and stopped when she got close.

"Ah, Mr. Elric, might I have a word with you this evening?" she asked.

"What? Oh, um, sorry, I've got to meet Professor McGonagall at six," Ed replied.

"Ah. Well then, come straight to my office when you're done then, hm?" Umbridge asked sweetly, which for some reason sent a chill down Ed's spine.

"Sure…" Ed said.

They arrived in the dungeon not long after this, and seeing as there wasn't enough room for all four of them at one table, Ed decided to break off and sit with Neville, who looked at him and whispered, "I'm not so good at this class, so sorry if I accidentally burn your hair off or something."

"I'll jump out of the way if I see flames," Ed whispered back reassuringly, then looked up as Professor Snape stood in front of them and looked at the students, his gaze falling on Ed after a few minutes.

"I see our visiting student is a brave one," he remarked, which caused Neville to flush. "I do not expect you to attempt the work of a fifth year potions student, Mr. Elric, so observe and see if you can't keep Longbottom from melting another cauldron, understood?"

A couple of boys in the back of the classroom sniggered at this comment as Neville flushed even brighter. "Yes, sir," Ed replied, feeling both irritation at Snape and a feeling of dread for what was to come. He watched carefully as Snape used magic to put directions on the board, then decided to do his best to make sure Neville wouldn't screw up.

It was hard. Neville tended to skip directions, mix up ingredients, and forget other things that made Ed cringe on the inside. He resorted to asking Neville questions about everything so that he could make sure Neville was using the right ingredients, and it didn't help that Snape stopped by their table and stared Neville down every time Ed asked a particularly challenging question.

When it was time to clean up and take a sample to the front, Ed could feel Snape's eyes on him, and he wasn't all too surprised when he was asked to stay after class. He helped clean up until Neville left, then walked to the front of the room and waited for Snape to address him.

"I asked you to keep Longbottom from causing another disaster, not do his work for him," Snape said as soon as the classroom was mostly empty.

"I wasn't aware that I was doing anything for him," Ed replied coolly. "I just asked him about the ingredients he was using. I've hardly seen most of them before."

Snape waved the last boys in the room, a wimpy-looking blonde boy and two muscular pea-brained boys, toward the door, then turned back to Ed once they left. "And yet Longbottom did better in this class than usual, despite the fact that he was sitting with someone who supposedly knows even less on the subject than he does."

"As far as I can tell, _professor_, making potions is very similar to alchemy. You get one thing wrong, and…" Ed trailed off, then casually pulled up his sleeve and gestured to his automail. "I was only preventing another disaster, just like you asked."

"Well, as I am sure you know, Longbottom has to learn these things for himself, so I would suggest you not let him rely on your assistance."

"I wasn't planning on it," Ed said irritably. "I've heard of a few tricks to help keep people from skipping steps or mixing them up, maybe I'll teach him those so he can use those here and you won't have to treat him like a safety hazard all the time."

"If you can keep Longbottom from being a complete disaster in this class, then you would have to be more of a genius than your father," Snape said darkly.

"Oh, that can't be too hard," Ed retorted. "I guess I'll give it a shot."

Snape looked confused and angry all at once, which was about what Ed had been going for. "You'd best watch your mouth, Elric. I have no tolerance for smart mouths in my classroom."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ed said, somewhat sarcastically. "May I go now?"

"One more thing," Snape said, then leaned towards Ed and, to Ed's surprise, gave him a look that suggested caution more than anything. "Do not show off that arm of yours unless you have a taste for answering unwanted questions. Understood?"

_Shit, I forgot about that,_ Ed thought, then nodded. "Yeah. It won't happen again if I can help it."

"Good. Now go."

Ed nodded, then headed straight for the door. He met up with Harry on his way up the hallway, and almost immediately Harry asked, "What'd he want?"

"He said I need to let Neville learn this stuff for himself," Ed replied. "Then I told him I was just doing what he'd told me to do, and I think I'm going to see if there's any way to help Neville not be such a disaster when it comes to that class."

"Good luck," Harry said. "Neville's always been bad at potions, and it doesn't help that he's terrified of Snape."

"He just needs to find something that'll help him remember what he's supposed to be doing," Ed said fairly. "I mean, I've never had a problem with that kind of thing, but I do get how hard it can be when there's so much stuff that needs to be done. Maybe I'll… what?" Ed asked, for Harry was now staring at him in surprise.

"What do you mean, you've never had a problem with that kind of thing?" Harry asked.

Ed looked at Harry for a moment, then grinned. "You'll see what I mean when I do the first alchemy lesson."

Harry sighed. "Great, just what I need. _More_ complicated lessons…"

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Neville thanked Ed profusely during lunch, then walked with him and Harry and Ron up to some high tower where Ed would get to experience what Harry called a load of rubbish. Ed was eager to see what this was, mainly because if Harry was being truthful – and so far he had been – Ed would finally be able to deny some form of magic and not be proven wrong.

Upon entering the Divination classroom, Ed immediately felt a sense of unease. The room was unlike anything he usually dealt with in the military, and although it had the same sense of surrealism the rest of the castle had, it was in a completely different way. Whereas the rest of Hogwarts reminded him of the adventure stories he used to hear as a kid, this room reminded him of a crazed drug addict he'd once had to confront and bring into custody for the military. He sat down with Neville once again, who admitted he wasn't great at this class either, and waited to see what the teacher would be like. Judging by the heavy atmosphere in the room, Ed assumed she would be just as eccentric, if not more, as Harry had described her to be. He was right.

It was an entertaining class, to say the least. Two minutes in, Professor Trelawney looked at Ed, pointed dramatically at him, and made a prediction that his life would be in grave danger very soon. Ed yawned, then nodded, and said, "Yeah, I can see that happening," then forced himself not to smirk when Professor Trelawney looked taken aback by Ed's casual acceptance of his dire fate.

"Well, it's not like she's too far off the mark," Ed remarked when they made their way down the tower after class had ended, then dropped his voice so that nobody besides Ron and Harry could hear what he said next. "I mean, I _am_ working for the military of a country that's always at war…"

"She'd have a field day if she found out," Ron said. "She could make her usual predictions about death and danger and pain, and she'd actually get something right for a change."

"How'd she get a job here if she's not actually good at predicting things?" Ed asked.

"Dumbledore said she's made two actual predictions," Harry explained. "So I guess she's not a complete fraud."

"Guess so," Ed said. "So how do you pass her class if even she can't tell the future?"

"We just make predictions about ourselves that involve us being miserable," Harry said. "It gets harder as you go on, though. We've had to get really creative lately…"

They talked some more about all the ways Harry and Ron were supposed to have died, then entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom a couple minutes before Professor Umbridge did. Hermione was already sitting at her desk, and when she saw Ed she asked, "Enjoy Divination?"

"It was good for a laugh, at least," Ed replied.

"You can always join me in Arithmancy if you don't want to go through it again," Hermione said.

"I might."

They stopped talking as soon as Professor Umbridge entered the room, and she hardly acknowledged Ed at all, besides giving him a spare copy of the book everyone else was supposed to be reading and telling him to start from the beginning. Ed gave up on reading it after the first two pages, but he pretended to read to avoid having to explain himself, and he managed to get through the entire class without having to deal with Umbridge until she told him to keep the book with him and try to catch up with the rest of the class.

"So you've got two meetings with teachers already, and you're not even a normal student," Ron remarked on their way to dinner. "You're getting to be pretty popular around here, Ed."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I hope it doesn't become a trend. I'm beginning to think I should have just stayed in Amestris."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad here," Harry said fairly. "I mean, not for you, at least…"

"Oy, new boy!" came a shout from behind them. They stopped and turned, and Ed wasn't too surprised to see that Harry did not look happy to see the wimpy blonde boy from earlier walking up to them. "You know you don't have to hang out with these three all the time just because you got stuck in the same House as them. You wouldn't want them to rub off on you."

"I'm sure I'll be just fine," Ed replied. "And who are you, exactly?"

"Draco Malfoy," the blonde answered. "I come from one of the more… respectable families in the wizarding community."

"I'm sure," Ed said, then turned to keep walking. "Well, it's been nice meeting you." He didn't turn to look at Malfoy's reaction, and didn't even try to see what Malfoy was doing until they arrived at the dining hall, then he watched Malfoy take his seat at the Slytherin table and remarked, "So that's the kid you hate."

Harry sat down across from him with a heavy sigh. "That's him, yeah."

"Not too excited about tonight, I'm guessing?" Ed asked.

"That's putting it lightly."

They ate quickly, then Ed got Hermione to walk him to Professor McGonagall's office so that he wouldn't get lost on the way and be late. He thanked her, then knocked on the door and waited until he heard her say, "Come in," before he opened the door and walked in.

"Ah, Mr. Elric. I see you managed to find your way here on time," Professor McGonagall said, gesturing for Ed to take a seat.

"Thanks to Hermione," Ed replied, sitting across the desk from her and taking a look at his surroundings.

"It can be confusing at first," McGonagall said, then looked Ed straight in the eye. "So, you still intend to teach the students some things about your kind of alchemy, correct?"

"That seems to be the plan," Ed replied. "Although I'd rather not do this with the younger kids. I think it'd be too complicated for them."

"I thought that might be the case. Fifth years and above, then?"

Ed thought about it for a second, then said, "Yeah, that'd be fine. How much did you want me to go over?"

"I would think a lesson covering the basics should suffice," McGonagall said. "Perhaps a small transmutation of some sort."

"Yeah, it seems like I'd have to go over some of the basics of physics and chemistry too, so that'd probably be enough for them to think about," Ed said, considering the things he'd have to go over in detail – things he'd known by heart for ten years.

"Muggle science does play a large role in this kind of alchemy, from what Professor Dumbledore has told me," McGonagall said. "Some of our students come from a muggle background, but others will not be familiar with those things at all, so you will have to be sure to explain everything in very simple terms."

"All right. I haven't had a good challenge in a while," Ed joked.

"It may be more of a challenge than you think," McGonagall said. "Professor Umbridge will be watching and asking questions, and I suppose you heard all about her over the break."

Judging by the stiff look McGonagall had on her face, Ed guessed she didn't like Umbridge much either. "Yeah, I did," he said. "I'll make sure to avoid bringing up any… questionable subjects."

"Very well, your lesson will take place next Friday. I trust that will give you enough time to prepare?"

Ed frowned. He hadn't thought he'd be stuck here for _that_ long… "More than enough," he said, "But I was under the impression that I would have headed back to my country by then."

"Professor Dumbledore thought it would be best if you stayed for at least two weeks in order for your visit to be more educational," McGonagall said. "If you must leave sooner, I would suggest you speak with him on the matter."

Ed didn't argue. If Dumbledore was the one who'd made the decision, then he'd have to be sure to have a good argument ready for when he went to protest it. "Do I just go to his office, then?" he asked.

"I can take you there now, if you have no more questions on your lesson."

Ed shook his head. "None. But I've been asked to meet Professor Umbridge after meeting with you," he said.

McGonagall frowned. "Already? Well, then, you had best be on your way. I'll show you to her office."

"Thanks," Ed said, then got up and followed McGonagall out of her office and through the castle. After a while, he decided it would be good to know what he was about to get himself into, and he asked, "How much does she know about me?"

"She knows that you lost your arm and leg in an accident, and she knows that you are from a war-torn country that not even the United Nations – that would be the Muggle alliance of – recognizes, and that you are considered to be a high-ranking official within your country."

"Right… that makes things easier. If she asks something I can't answer I'll just say it's classified information or something," Ed said as they stopped outside a door with Umbridge's name on it.

"Just be careful. Though you are exempt from wearing the Hogwarts uniform and you are not required to do any homework assigned to the regular students, you are still a student here and you can get into trouble."

Ed nodded. "I've dealt with plenty of similar situations, I can handle it," he said as he knocked on the door.

"Come in!" came that overly-sweet voice, and Ed cringed a bit before opening the door. McGonagall nodded her head in farewell and walked off briskly as he entered the office, and Ed could see why she had left in such a hurry. It was as if Professor Umbridge was trying to make up for a boring childhood. There was so much pink that Ed was sure he'd go blind.

"Ah, Mr. Elric, I see you remembered our little meeting," Umbridge said sweetly, gesturing for Ed to sit down. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks," Ed replied, staring at the plates and the cats on them. If he and Al had a house of their own, he was pretty sure there would be a similar theme in Al's room… minus the pink. And the frills. In fact, the only similarity would be the cats.

"Well, then, allow me to get straight to the point. How are you enjoying your first day here?"

Ed shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"Getting along with your classmates?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah."

"I presume you have heard about the… unfortunate circumstances regarding Mr. Potter."

"Harry? Oh, yeah, I've heard all about that," Ed said, frowning a bit. He needed to keep neutral around her if he wanted to avoid trouble, but he couldn't just deny everything Harry had told him.

"I suppose you have heard everything from him, then?"

"I understand he's gotten himself a bad reputation around here," Ed said. "But whether what he's been saying is true or not is none of my concern."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Ed sighed. "Because whether that guy is back or not won't affect us in my country. Besides, his parents and mine were friends at one point, so if nothing else I owe it to them to humor him." He bowed his head, trying to make it appear as though he was sad.

"I see. You do realize, Mr. Elric, that he needs to be set straight and encouraging his delusions will only hinder this."

"I'm not encouraging anything," Ed said testily.

"How did your parents happen to meet?" Umbridge asked suddenly, catching Ed off guard.

"I don't know, nobody really told me," Ed lied.

"I was informed your brother would be coming here as well, why isn't he here?"

This was definitely an interrogation. "He has a… condition," Ed explained. "He's not going out in public until the worst of it is over."

Umbridge stared at him for a moment, and Ed stared right back. He was not about to be intimidated by this toad. "Very well, then," she said, and Ed thought for a moment that she was done asking him questions. "Just a few more things…"

Ed held back a groan. He was forced to be diplomatic for at least another half hour, then was finally allowed to leave, and he did so as quickly as he possibly could, not even considering the idea of asking Umbridge for directions back to Gryffindor tower. Getting lost was much more appealing than sharing a room with her for one more minute.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about getting lost. He met Harry out in the hallway and they walked through the castle together, each ranting about their evenings.

"…It's awful, I can't get him out of my head and all it does is give him more stuff to make me miserable with in class," Harry ranted. "And how am I supposed to clear my mind anyway? I can't just not think about anything!"

"What if you think about something that's almost like thinking about nothing?" Ed suggested.

Harry gave him a strange look. "What do you mean?"

"Like when you have too much on your mind to go to sleep at night, I've heard that if you concentrate on your breathing you fall asleep faster," Ed explained.

"So I have to think about breathing to keep people out of my head?" Harry asked skeptically. "How would that help?"

"Well, focusing on something like breathing keeps you from thinking about other st- ack!"

Ed fell face forward on the stairs, his leg having fallen through what he'd assumed was a step. Harry stopped on the stair in front of him and crouched down, a grin on his face that Ed really wanted to get rid of. "What's that you were saying about not thinking about other stuff?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know this step was fake?" Ed snapped, taking Harry's hand and pulling himself up, then sitting on the stairs to recover for a moment.

"Right, sorry, I should have warned you…" Harry said, still grinning, then added, "But you know, I think you have a point. Maybe I'll try that tonight. So how did your meeting with Umbridge go?"

Now it was Ed's turn to rant.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

I'm going to bed now.


End file.
